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Proving just how out of touch he is with the American people, President Obama recently said during a press conference that “the private sector is doing fine.” Really, Mr. President? The truth of the matter is that the private sector is not “doing fine.”

When the unemployment report for May was released at the start of this month, it was the best news Mitt Romney had gotten since he all but clinched his party’s nomination.
The report showed that far less new work had been created than the government expected, causing the unemployment rate to go back up to 8.2 percent.

I’m sure President Barack Obama is not happy with the way things are going.
The month began with economic bad news. Job creation was very weak in May and manufacturing was down. This is just another example of why a majority of Americans disapprove of President Obama’s handling of the economy. It also reinforces Republicans’ contention that President Obama’s policies have impeded, rather than helped the recovery.

The eyes of the nation are on the Supreme Court as we await their decision in the landmark case on the constitutionality of President Obama’s health care law. Just over two months ago, the nine Supreme Court justices heard roughly six hours of oral arguments on several portions of the massive health care law. Since then they have been reviewing additional materials before issuing a written opinion, which is expected by the end of the month.

I am a lifelong resident of Bedford with the last 30 years being in the City of Bedford.
I have seen businesses come and go. I have seen our young people leave Bedford because there was nothing for them to do here. The nearest place to have fun and socialize would be to drive to Roanoke or Lynchburg.

I began this week’s column with the confidence that by the time it’s read, George Allen and Bob Goodlatte will have won their respective primaries on June 12.
I suspect that Goodlatte had an easier time of it than Allen. The former UVA party boy was rather brutally targeted by his main tea party opponent, Jamie Radtke.

Another potential foreign policy headache popped up late last month when a Turkish court formally pressed criminal charges against four Israeli generals for their alleged involvement in the deaths of nine activists aboard a Turkish ship, the Mavi Marmara, that tried to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza in 2010. Eight of the activists were Turkish nationals and one was an American of Turkish ancestry.

As we traveled East to West on Route 58 this past week, meeting with small business owners and individuals in their hometowns, the one word that continued to be repeated time and time again was “uncertainty.”